When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The One-Day Work-Up

I cannot believe it's already come and gone. And we are one step closer to actually cycling.

I never thought we would be here again.

Walking through the doors of CCRM was like meeting an old friend. Only this time, with an entirely different perspective.

Last time when we were in this spot, we were filled with so much uncertainty. Can we afford it? Will it work? What if it doesn't work? How will we ever be able to live our lives as an childless couple, in a world built on families?

Thankfully, we never had to find out.

After so many treatments and being given up on at our clinic in Seattle, we were desperate. Tired and desperate and so full of fear. CCRM was our final hope. It was everything.

Being back this time, as parents of our miracle baby Cooper, the experience is completely different. It's not life or death anymore. It was almost joyous being there. Knowing that this was the place where Cooper was created. That these were the people that gave us our miracle. It was like coming home to a family we barely know, but means everything to us.

Sitting there in the waiting room, I couldn't help but feel blessed. We are so lucky. Whether we are able to have another baby or not, we have already won the jackpot. Everything else is gravy. We hope to grow our family by one more and give Cooper a sibling, but if it's not meant to be, we can move on easily and happily, knowing we are blessed.

Yes, secondary infertility is not even in the same ballpark as infertility. It is not even in the same universe.

I have to say, doing the one-day work up the second time around was much easier and a lot less confusing. CCRM is a well oiled machine who has us in and out in no time. And Dr. Schoolcraft was just as laid back and hilarious as I remembered him. He is definitely a man of a few words. He doesn't toot his own horn in the least, just smiles confidently and let's us ask questions, and barely says a word. But, when you are the best, there is no need to scream it from the rooftops. He let's his work speak for itself. And yes, I can confidently say, he is a miracle worker.

Our results will be in by the end of the week and it will be interesting to compare them to last time. To see how my body has changed and aged over the last two years. And find out where we stand.

But for now, we stride out with our matching bloodwork arms and hopeful smiles. With wonderful memories of Denver and CCRM. We are going home to see Cooper, our living miracle, after the first night away from him ever.

5 comments:

Oh, I am just giddy with happiness for you! I had a feeling you would be back. When I read in Coopers blog that you went to Denver I knew what that meant. I am so so very happy for you and hoping and praying for another miracle for you! Looking forward to following the journey.Donna

Oh, I am just giddy with happiness for you! I had a feeling you would be back. When I read in Coopers blog that you went to Denver I knew what that meant. I am so so very happy for you and hoping and praying for another miracle for you! Looking forward to following the journey.

Best wishes for your upcoming cycle! I came across your blog looking for information about improving embryo quality. We just got a negative after our first fresh IVF cycle. All of our 15 embryos were of poor quality - none made it to freeze. We transferred two morulas on day 5.

We've had a long road - we lost our first child to a rare genetic disorder and I've since had 4 miscarriages (2 on our own and 2 from donor embryos). We do have a 3 year old daughter from donor embryos.

I hope the road to number 2 is a much easier one than mine has been. You have given me hope, though, that we do have a chance at making embryos that could actually become a take home baby.

About Me

We were married in 2000 and struggled with infertility for 5 years before finally finding success at CCRM. At 33, I was diagnosed with unexplained IF & hypothyroidism. Dave was 35, and diagnosed with MF with low motility/morphology. And our overall problem was poor embryo quality, even with IVF, none ever make it to blast. At 35, I was diagnosed with ASAB as well. We finally found success at CCRM in 2008, where we made our first blasts and got our first ever BFP! We got pregnant with twins, lost one, and ended up with one healthy baby boy!
5 months after he was born, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and I lost her 9 months later. The loss was devastating.
In 2011, we were back at CCRM for one last try for baby number 2, and ended with a second miracle, our precious baby girl.
My book INFERTILITY-LAND is available for download on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Infertility-Land-A-Roadmap-ebook/dp/B0057OBMRO
About 4 months after my daughter was born, I was wrongly diagnosed with PPD and was put on meds. This created a journey to hell and back with bad reactions and hideous withdrawal. I am now heading back to my super amazing happy love-filled life.